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Longitudinal effects of kindergarten policies and early childhood practices

LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF KINDERGARTEN POLICIES AND
EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTICES
by
Jill Suzanne Cannon
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION)
May 2007
Copyright 2007 Jill Suzanne Cannon

In an era of increased attention on education accountability, the importance of students' early educational experience in kindergarten also increases. This introductory school year builds foundational skills that contribute to later school success. Therefore, it is useful to understand what policies and practices in this first year of schooling may help improve effectiveness and benefit students long-term.; Two policies affecting the kindergarten year include full-day kindergarten and early childhood teacher certification. Extant research has not fully addressed how these policies affect long-term student outcomes. This dissertation addresses that gap in a series of three studies examining these policies in combination with early childhood practices believed to affect student outcomes. The aim is to inform policymakers and educators about the potential role these policies play in improving student academic and behavioral outcomes through fifth grade. The studies take advantage of a national longitudinal dataset of kindergarten students, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study -- Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999.; The first study examines the efficacy of full-day kindergarten and finds that there are initial benefits for students and mothers of students who attend full-day kindergarten, but that these differences largely evaporate by third grade. Moreover, attending full-day programs is found to have no additional benefit for students in families with income below the poverty threshold. The second study examines the relative effectiveness of teachers certified in early childhood compared to teachers certified in elementary education and finds no differences in short- or long-term student outcomes. Results also demonstrate little evidence of differences in teacher effectiveness by certification area and selected teacher and classroom characteristics. The third study investigates whether certain factors related to early childhood education practices improve the longitudinal efficacy of full-day kindergarten programs. Results demonstrate no strong evidence that any particular factor studied is especially beneficial for full-day students, including at-risk students.; In sum, these findings suggest that decisionmakers should not mandate full-day kindergarten or place a premium on early-childhood-certified kindergarten teachers in the current education system. Further research is necessary to disentangle the mechanisms through which these policies influence outcomes and to examine the role of out-of-school factors.

LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF KINDERGARTEN POLICIES AND
EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTICES
by
Jill Suzanne Cannon
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION)
May 2007
Copyright 2007 Jill Suzanne Cannon